


Faries On Ice

by Lilyevanseviltwin



Category: Fariy Tail - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Gratsu - Freeform, M/M, One Shot, fairy tail - Freeform, figure skating, just a cute skating date, where natsu is unaware of his feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyevanseviltwin/pseuds/Lilyevanseviltwin
Summary: Natsu thought that ice skating would be easy.  Turns out, not so much, especially when your rival is your teacher.  But Gray seems different today...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute, fluffy one shot that I've been sitting on for a while. Enjoy ;)
> 
> Not Beta'd.

Natsu growled as he hit the ice for what felt like the millionth time that day. Whenever Gray did it, it looked so easy, which was why Natsu was here. As all of Fairy Tail knew, Gray was an ice mage. This magic allowed the ravenette to become proficient in many winter sports, including figure skating. To stay in shape and in practice, Gray would often go ice skating, no matter the time of year. Natsu had caught the other boy on several occasions and teased him relentlessly about it. The last time Natsu caught him, Gray challenged him.

“Think you can do better, Dragon Breath?” Gray yelled from the impromptu rink he had created on the river that ran through Magnolia.

“Any time, any place, Ice Princess,” Natsu had called back, landing the pinkette in his current situation. Due to some mutual unsaid understanding, Gray had mercifully chosen a remote pond far from the guildhall for Natsu’s challenge. Natsu knew that if anyone from the guild had been present to witness his failure, he would never hear the end of it. Erza would use it against them every time they got into a fight, Lucy and Happy would call it a date, Juvia would probably see him as a possible rival for Gray’s attention, and the rest would tease him endlessly. 

“Not so easy as it looks, is it, Flamebrain,” asked Gray, offering a hand and snapping Natsu out of his thoughts. Natsu accepted, flushing red from embarrassment and frustration. Gray seemed different today. Usually by now, they would have been at each other’s throats, begging for a fight. But now that they were away from the Guild, Gray seemed nicer, less likely to rip into Natsu for every little mistake. It unsettled Natsu, and he couldn’t tell if he liked this side of Gray or not. 

“Maybe I’d do better if you didn’t keep trying to coach me, Snowflake,” Natsu retorted, attempting to steady himself on his skates. 

“Natsu, you can barely stand on your own! I was just trying to help!’ There was that familiar temper.

“I don’t need help fro-” Natsu stopped short, realizing Gray seemed a lot taller than usual. Natsu looked down and saw that his magic had risen along with his temper. The pinkette had melted a hole in the ice, right beneath where he was standing, not yet all the way through. Gray had noticed as well and was trying to help Natsu off the thin ice the fire mage had created. Natsu ignored the other boy’s help and tried to climb out of the hole himself. The pinkette made it about two steps before falling flat on his face. Natsu heard Gray laugh. Natsu pushed himself up on the ice to tell the ravenette off, then saw something that made him pause. Gray was kneeling down over the hole, refreezing it with magic, and he had the biggest smile on his face. Natsu was shocked because Gray never smiled when he was around unless he was making fun of the pinkette. But there was nothing mean in this smile, just genuine happiness, as if the ice mage was actually enjoying himself. Natsu was still staring when Gray got up and came over to him. 

“Why don’t you let me help you this time? Just to make sure you don’t melt the whole damn pond,” the ravenette said good-naturedly. Natsu nodded and accepted a hand up, still in shock. They skated around the rink a few times hand in hand, Gray in front of Natsu, skating backwards. When the ice mage noticed that Natsu was still stumbling and trying to find balance, he stopped and skated around to stop just behind the other boy.

“Here, let’s try this,” Gray said as he placed his hands on Natsu’s waist. The fire mage, still confused by the ravenette’s smile, was now completely bewildered. First, Gray was nice, then he smiled, genuinely _smiled_ , and now he was almost hugging Natsu from behind. What the hell was going on?! Gray was never this kind with anyone, ever. Natsu had thought Gray was just a snarky emo who liked to strip. But now he didn’t know what to think. It was still the same Gray, just softer and kinder.

Gray had been right, it was easier to skate with his help. Once Gray was steering Natsu from behind, the pinkette found his balance, as if the ravenette had grounded him. They spent a couple of minutes skating around the pond in silence, Natsu still trying to figure out what was happening. Eventually, the fire mage looked up and noticed how low the sun had become in the sky.

“Oh, look at the time,” Natsu said hurriedly, moving out of Gray’s reach and turning to face the ice mage. “Better go before anyone comes looking for us. Wouldn’t want them to catch me doing this girly sport.” Natsu let out a nervous laugh. A flush had started creeping up his neck to his cheeks. Gray let out a grunt of agreement, seeming slightly disappointed. Seriously, what was up with the ravenette. He was usually begging Natsu to leave him alone. The pinkette made his way over to a patch of grass next to the pond where he removed the ice skates Gray had lent him and put his own shoes on. Natsu called goodbye to Gray and quickly made his way home. 

Natsu was still mulling over Gray’s odd behavior on the way home. Maybe the ravenette was sick. But no, if Gray had been sick he would have been at the guildhall complaining at the amount of noise Natsu was making instead of ice skating. Maybe Gray had hit his head on the last mission! But that was scratched off the list, too. If the ice mage had been injured on a job, he would have gone to the hospital ward at the guild right after and Natsu knew Gray hadn’t done that because Natsu picked a fight with the other boy after his last job. Maybe Gray- But no, that wasn’t possible. Was it? It would explain why Gray was always warning Natsu to be careful on dangerous jobs and why he never complained about being on the same team as the pinkette despite their rivalry. The more Natsu thought about it, the more it seemed possible. Maybe Gray liked him. But that only left one question- did Natsu like him back. The fire mage had never thought of Gray in any other way besides a frienemy, someone who always had his back and who would never fail to fight him over every small detail. Now Natsu didn’t know what to think. Natsu spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work out his feelings, but was still no closer to an answer by the time he went to bed. The dragon slayer fell asleep that night to the feeling of the ghost of Gray’s hands around his waist.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr @lilyevanseviltwin! My story wasn't Beta'd, but if you are willing to help, message me on Tumblr.


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